Tourists in Our Own City- Just Ducky Tours
Saturday afternoon Steve asked me if I wanted to take that Ducky Tour we had seen last week when we were downtown at the Arts Festival.
After a moment’s hesitation I threw on some clothes and we went. What a good idea.
Had to wait and hour and a half for the next available tour as the weather was great and everyone was out. We sipped a Yuengling at the Hard Rock Cafe and then made our way to the line that was forming at flag #3 for our boat.
We had a lot of fun. It was so enjoyable. Especially the rivers part. Steve said he would definitely go again.
Everyone looks at you as you drive past and then you all quack like a duck so if you aren’t in a cheery disposition or that seems too too corny, don’t go. It was really funny and fun and I documented the experience with the camera.
The feeling of driving into the river and leaving land was really a cool sensation. And now I know where to take the grandchildren when they come to visit the city. They would love taking a Just Ducky Tour.
Did you see the movie Saving Private Ryan? the driver asked.
Just Ducky Tours Amphibious Vehicles History
All six boats drive off at about the same time, like a convoy
Self portrait in the rearview mirror
Tour guide Cait finds some humor to entertain the tourists. Us!
Salvaged from a building? Who are these figures and what are they doing?
Historic Landmark Smithfield Bridge
First you drive around downtown and see everything you know from a different vantage point.
PPG Plaza and fountain.
Looks like a character from a novel.
Headed to find her car in the parking lot.
The Blimp and PPG building
Driving down the Mon Wharf, right into the Monongahela River!
Underneath the Fort Pitt Bridge
The fountain is working again.
What a Just Ducky Tour Boat looks like on the river.
There are the companion Ducky Tourists.
We were on the Monongahela, The Allegheny and the Ohio Rivers. RIght at the point.
What it looks like when the amphibious vehicle drives out of the Monongahela River.
Right next to us on the road. Watch that Baby!!!
Returned safely to Station Square.
They told us NO one has had to use a life jacket in the 16 years of Just Ducky Tours. I took some photos of people driving the boat and am emailing them their pic.
Quack Quack Quack!
City County Building Hosts Pittsburgh Carrick High School Art Show
Update: 5-13-13
Just added this gorgeous panorama photographed by Instructional Team Leader for the Fine Arts Department -Michael Dean.
The Pittsburgh Carrick High School student Art Show is hung and waiting for the Monday opening reception at 5:30.
Anyone who works in this magnificent building will get a sneak peek during the day. There were ten of us working most of the day Saturday to hang the art and place the tags by each piece.
Awards ceremony is Monday evening at 6:30 PM. Sponsored by CITIPARKS!
How about those Tiffany columns? The marble, the windows, the painted ceiling? And all the student artwork? Wow!
I can’t wait for the students to see their artwork on display in such a wonderful setting.
There will be refreshments at the reception.
Everything looks great!
You have to see it in person to get the full experience.

If you are in the city, please come see the amazing student artwork.
(Parking downtown gets cheap after 5)
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P.S.
Remembering our mothers every day of the year
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Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above
There’ve been a lot of directions in the challenges.
Up, down. Round. Forward. No inside out. Yet
this week it’s FROM ABOVE.
I stand over garbage, see a lone glove on the road-
take a shot. A single baby shoe in the gutter.
Weddings from a church balcony, the mezzanine.
Not often, though. Directly above is rare, more likely above from an angled side.
Have they done sideways? I like that movie.
Here’s my From Above Gallery, though not celestial.
Laura and James at Marjorie and Dan’s Wedding Reception. Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
Seventh (Andy Warhol) and Ninth Street Bridges taken from the Renaissance Hotel.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Shadows at the entrance of school
John and Angie’s Wedding
Franklin Park Conservatory Columbus OH
Anna, Baby Jack and Michael March 2007
Roberto Clemente Bridge and PNC Park from the Renaissance Hotel
Last Year’s Rose
French Fries on Carson Street
Porsche Engine
Batteries from a week in digital photo class.
Dunkin Donut apron in the school parking lot.
Woke Up, It Was a Foggy Morning
My sister and I were on the phone and she had just asked me about my seeing things to photograph and am I always on the lookout for a good photo and I said I think I take fewer pictures now, that I am not obsessing about getting a decent shot blah blah blah and THEN-
And when I got to the red light at the end of the Liberty Bridge before the tunnel, I saw the fog enveloping the PPG building except for the pointy towers peeking through.
I opened the back window and took a quick shot.
On the way to school the next day I didn’t get a red light so no photo.
Day three! A red light and another quick pick of the city without the fog.
Pyramid of LED Lights on the Gulf Tower, Change with the Weather
Dear Blog Readers,
Thank you for the thoughtful expressions of sympathy, your comments and emails yesterday, on the passing of Murphy the Airedale.
It means a lot to the whole family to read such an outpouring of love, care and concern. Your words offer comfort and understanding. xxoo Ruth
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For years the Gulf Tower Building ( built in 1930) had a beacon that displayed the weather- red lights for fair or blue lights for precipitation
Now The Gulf Tower has a fancy installation of programmed LED lights that change with the holidays, sporting events and special occasions but still tell the weather at five minutes before the hour. The combination of lights can produce any color.
Designed by Cindy Limauro, professor of lighting design at Carnegie Mellon University and husband, Christopher Popowich, partners in C&C Lighting LLC.
Read more: at the Post Gazette article with a chart telling how to”read” the lights.
This photo was taken from my car window while waiting or my sister to buy her train ticket back to NYC at the AMTRAK station downtown.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Change
Have you ever tried to?
Change your mind about something or someone?
Change-the only constant of our lives.
Oh, you changed your hair.
“You’ve got to change, baby”
Change trains.
I have a friend who can change the subject on a dime.
Many people don’t enjoy change.
I can change a diaper. Four quarters for a buck. Switch directions in the car when necessary. Change lanes.
But change?
Really truly change. Change my ways. Change my habits. Change my thinking?
Lots of people are worrying about Climate Change.
Subtle change, drastic change.
Here are some suggested change illustrations-
Hot Dog Vendor checks his supply of change.
Architecture changes over time.
The window dresser changes the window.
Waiting for the red light to change.
And you can always count on the weather to change,
the seasons to change-
although sometimes the pace is agonizingly slow.
Thanks to everyone who sent good words for the milestone 1300th post. Now what? Can’t change it up now, so here’s #1301.
This is a sad change- what it looked like about 7 years ago
On the way into school Friday morning. Steeler umbrella, daffodils, new green grass and a Spring rain NOT snow! A change for the better.
Longaberger Baskets Home Office Guest Blog
Laura drove past the home office of longaberger ( click for building specs)
Longaberger Baskets in Newark Ohio
Thanks for the shot today Laura! (taken March 25th )
I have to go there one of these days soon.
This basket shaped building was listed in the book of Ohio Oddities and you can tour the building but if you have a large group,call first.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Future Tense
This week’s challenge is just that- a challenge. How could I capture the future in a photograph NOW?
I’m going with this portion of the challenge….. “Anything that involves the present and a hint of the future all in one frame.”
Freedom Tower, New York City. Under construction. 1 World Trade Center. We walked farther downtown and the gusts of wind went up to 35 mph according to the weather. Sunshine and chill.
Daytime view and nighttime view of Freedom Tower.
And when I looked at the shot I took from my sister’s apartment window, I saw a stream of light come down from the clouds.
Other bloggers interpretations to check out here
Francine in Retirement from Pittsburgh with O Death Where is thy Sting? and a photograph of a Pittsburgh cemetery
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« OLDER PINGBACKS
Night on Bryant Street- Italian(2), Belgium, Japanese, Thai, a PayPhone, the Laundromat, a Market and a Bus
Monday night when we drove through the neighborhood in the rain, none of the restaurants were open except for Smiling Banana Leaf. (Thai).
Joseph Tambellini’s is the first exterior I photographed and you should taste the delicious meatballs.
Studio 35- Oldest Independent Cinema & Drafthouse, Hosts Free Oscars Event in Clintonville
On my way to Laura and James’ house, I saw this cool theatre, Studio 35, and read the marquee. Pulled over to the curb and got out the camera. Thought it sounded like a fun evening. Took the shot from the car and the day was a gray one.
This theatre looks l like the ones I knew growing up. No theatre in Pittsburgh serves beer as far as I know.
My DIL was teasing about my getting home to watch the Oscars Sunday night, live stream on a computer as I have no TV that gets any channels. It is always fun to see the best and worst dressed though. A lot of hype in the media. But this image evokes nostalgia for me. One of these visits to Columbus I am going to have to go watch a movie here.
Got Bridges?
Just a few. Here are some bridges that cross the Allegheny River. Since I showed the one closed yesterday, it seemed to make sense to post a shot of more bridges.
If you want to read about Pittsburgh Bridges, click here .
Taken from Mount Washington, Duquesne Incline observation deck just last week.
And the Tenth Street Bridge in the Tom Cruise movie (Jack Reacher) isn’t in this shot but here
Last Sliver of Sun
Before I drove up the mountain, I went to one of my favorite spots on West Carson Street. This is what made me decide to head up to Mt. Washington to catch the incline in the snow as the sun set.
Incline in the Snow
I returned to the Duquesne Incline platform on Monday evening as I arrived from Ohio. Not quite as much snow as I thought there would be.
Taken just as the sun sank in the sky and the temperatures dropped. Will try again, a different winter day.
Couldn’t wait any longer to shoot when the sky was darker as it was too windy and cold. You might have liked the night time version better.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond
Beyond repair.
Beyond belief.
Beyond reasonable doubt.
Beyond recognition.
Beyond comprehension.
Beyond the fence.
Beyond the horizon.
Beyond the trees.
Faith in the Great Beyond.
Beyond that?
Beyond me.
City Rooftop Night View
Thank Kathryn for sharing your hotel room view. I love the night sky and lights. 
Roberto Clemente Bridge at Night
Roberto Clemente Bridge from a different angle. High up! What a view.
Photographed from the lovely Renaissance Hotel’s fourteenth floor – my fellow blogger’s room. The Allegheny River looked pretty chilly.
If you follow me you know how I enjoy working on my night photography. Love all the lights’ reflections, especially in the water. Too bad it wasn’t baseball season as we could have watched the game from her room!
I was telling Kathryn about how the bridge is closed when there are Pirates Games and you can walk across to PNC Park. Thanks for inviting me up to see the city at night. What fun. I think I need to book a corner room with a river view and just take photographs at different times of day.
Incline Operator
Meet Chuck Wise. He says his job has its “ups and downs.” You can find him on youtube he told me! Thanks for the tour, Chuck. I was showing fellow blogger Vastly Curious around the Burgh Wednesday night, all the fine sights ( the city view on Grandview Avenue in Mount Washington)
Brrrr it was windy out on the platform.
Churck Wise (like the potato chip he reminded me so I’d spell his name right) has been operating the incline for about 15 years, just as his Great Grandfather did.
He graciously allowed me to photograph and blog him.. Thanks Chuck.
Length of Track: 794 feet
Madison and 57th, Looking West
A week of bright shining stars.
The Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination inspired me to post twice and then I received these photos in my email.
I love it when my friends, family and followers respond with a photograph.
My college friend/ artist/ photographer Joyce Grasso sent this to me. I wrote back and she graciously consented to be guest blogger.
Shot through a car window with a cell phone. Last Spring my sister and I met Joyce at MOMA and toured the Cindy Sherman exhibit.
Thanks for sharing your illumination capture of the star in New York City, Joyce!
Downtown Alley
The illumination challenge could have kept me going for the rest of the year. I shoot a lot of photos in the dark with lights! When you look at your body of work ( or parts of it) you notice different things and details on different days.
When I was sifting through files, I found this city alley downtown and just liked the perspective, the people, the shapes and lines. Although it was captured in another season, the thermometer went up to 69 degrees ( I saw it lit up on a sign!) and for the second week of January it feels odd.
I think I need to return downtown and shoot some more alley views.
City Rooftop Horsey
I’m sure there’s a great story behind the placement of this molded plastic creature, dangling from a wire frame atop a building!
You might remember, depending on how long you have been following the blog, that my friend Sally said that things come in threes.
And the day before that there was the horse of a different color. The post the day before that one was The Old Gray Mare (or stallion).
There was the steed left by a cowboy in an Arlington neighborhood alley, just like the one Chicago John rode as a kid.
And here is the latest one I caught yesterday as I sat in traffic in East Liberty and happened to see it up on the roof.
“Found” rocking horses or rocking horse heads in the city are a theme without my even realizing. Maybe someone is going around the city and placing them for me to find!
Here are the aforementioned horse sightings in the city cause let’s face it- who has time to return to old blogposts?

























































































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